Things from simpler times

Or: what we saw inside the old store at Cordes: oodles of stuff from the 20s & 30s, including my childhood days. (You may recall that I visited the place with my lady friends last Sunday.)

The kind of skate that I rolled around on. You needed a paved surface for sure; you'd barely move on any other type of surface. Not at all like today's slick roller blades.

And who doesn't remember the mighty Wurlitzer? Even though the songs are from a much later slice of time...

My kind of radios, at least if I'm going to listen to the Lone Ranger or Orson Welles' Mercury Theatre. They wouldn't do for my NPR classics from KNAU today.

Soda pop bottles from the days of glass. Evidently not collected on the desert surrounding Cordes -- they'd be purple in that case.

The thrifty housewife can't have enough meat grinders. Or (below) cast iron pots, pans and ovenwear.

A well equipped tool box for the man of the house.

A hiccup in the above time line: three humming bird nests collected in and around Cordes. The Cordes Station Store holds a humming bird festival in April.

And this is an antique that's for looking only -- it belonged to Proprietor Cathy Cordes' great-grandfather and she intends to keep it in the family.

Here she wraps up a sale to my travelling companions.

Antiques on the Square

If I could reach all the people who are in charge of selecting dates for special events, I would let out a loud scream about the weekend of June 5-June 7. There were the quilts Friday/Saturday at the high school. The street rod show Saturday next the Square. An equine event at the rodeo grounds. The celebration of the Granite Creek downtown trail. Two health related dos. And the Folk Arts Fair at the Sharlot Hall Museum, plus Antiques on the Square. I managed to make the last two events and one health-related seminar. I wish I had been able to take pictures at each and every one of these affairs. Too much in one weekend, guys!!! Spread the goodies across more time next time, please.

Only half the courthouse lawn was occupied by dealers in wondrous things from the past. Whether this is the usual size or larger or smaller, I do not know, this being the first time I've done the show.

What can one say about the array of fascinating things on sale. For instance, pots from the European traditions (above) and from North American Indians (below). Just for the record, the pots below, likely from Mexico, look to be strictly in the collectible category -- they're obviously quite new.

I was surprised that there were so few Indian goods at this show. A handful of rugs, perhaps some jewelry and that's about it.

As befits a commercial civilization, yesterday's products -- at least their packaging -- rank high among collectible categories.

Guinness, Corona and Michelob I've heard of (and enjoyed on occasion). On the other hand, Sunny (below), which looks to be an orange pop, is new to me, though I certainly recall that nickel price for Nehi and Coke. Yes, I've been around for a long time!

One dealer specialized in cowboy paraphernalia, including the Stetson box.

There was even this excellent cowboy statue if you were willing to part with several hundred $$$.

Vintage clothing and ceiling lights with a history...

...a bathtub for Saturday nights in the ountains as well as wickerwork snow shoes.

The old fashioned school desk is an antiquery staple. I suppose there's no reason that the ironing board shouldn't also fall into that class. The well made wooden box on the seat below once held explosives for the mining industry.

Another standby: old dolls from the days when little girls named their own dolls and marketers minded their own business. Are you as offended as I am by all those dolls that are sold complete to name, rank, serial number and a fabricated life history. Whatever happened to imagination or individuality?

The dolls above were just a portion of the merchandise featured by one dealer. He also had a display case chock-a-block full of wee little dolls (below).

More things of childhood: a farm scene and, below, a horsie thingy which I couldn't quite figure out. It looks somewhat like a type of teeter-totter (ooh, verboten these days), but it isn't balanced so that can't be how you play with it. You tell me...

A rocking horse, a doll carriage and, for the boy child, a splendid steam shovel.

And what could be more nostalgic than a crowd of kids on the Courhouse lawn rediscovering the hula hoop. I'm ready to go back in time myself.

Tis the season for yard sales

Fortunately for me, when I go for walks, I usually take no money with me. Particularly fortunate when I happen across a yard or garage sale. Too much Good Stuff for me to resist!

Especially in a pleasantly shaded yard. Oh, so many good Things that I couldn't do without -- if I had the money burning a hole in my pocket.

Well, no, I didn't need fishing gear or those plaster thingies. On the other hand, I definitely could find a home to mount those brackets ... and that electric radiator at right might come in handy next winter.

No to the horse collar and the end tables. Neither needed or even wanted currently, though they looked to be in very good condition.

Ditto the leaf whacker, tho k has located what looks to be very handy electric leaf and twig chipper for making mulch.

But jumbles are what yard sales should always include...

... and kitchen gizmos and gadgets. In fact, it seems to me that these are chancy items for any smart merchant to stock. They surely are purchased only on the spur of the moment, and far too many reappear too soon in the thrift shops and at yard sales. The rational shopper is well aware of this fact. But then who's a rational shopper? Not I. My rationality extends to walking without change in my pockets.

One of the great things about yard sales is that you never know what you'll find. In this corner of the sale, a pretty candelabra, a decorative bedstead and a bird house.

Unlike many yard sales, there were also antiques. For example, I had to ask about these wooden panels. Turns out they were the real thing -- very old fashioned, possibly home made washboards. I had never seen such even in my youngest days, only the boughten kind with a corrugated metal plate. It had never occurred to me just why they were called washboards!

They were leaning against this old wooden cart. Not a plaything, either; note that the wheels are faced with iron.

Another golden oldie; asking price for the oak chair, $75.

These quilts were not from modern needles. Lovingly made long ago, they also have seen hard use...

...as this pretty pink and white coverlet shows.

The quilt collection was toppped off with a scrap that remained unfinished; consequently, it looks bright and shiny, like new.